My Way: 17 Things That Inspire Venus Williams

Who?

Venus Williams, Professional tennis player, CEO of V Starr, and CEO and creative director of EleVen by Venus

Where?

West Palm Beach, Florida

What?

In addition to her accomplished tennis career—which includes seven Grand Slam titles, 14 women’s doubles titles, two mixed doubles titles and five Olympic medals—Williams is also the CEO of two businesses. V Starr is an interior design company that has worked on facilities such as the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Miami and the athletic center at Howard University. EleVen by Venus is Williams’ line of athletic apparel.

I’m reading…

Originals by Adam Grant. It talks about how to be innovative and how to come up with original ideas. It’s really interesting. I recommend it.

I’m actually a recovering…

gadget-addict, so I’m limited on what I can get. I recently got a Microsoft Surface Pro. It’s pretty cool. I like it. It’s interesting. It’s small. You can travel with it easily.

I really believe in…

doing right by people and doing right by myself. I live with that every day. The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

My favorite feel-good movies are…

romantic comedies because I love happy endings—anything in that genre.

The most important lesson I’ve learned is…

In my tennis career, I still want…

to continue to win tournaments and majors. That’s something I work on every day. With EleVen, we want to build a brand that inspires people to move their bodies, make their lives positive and live healthy lives. At V Starr we want to create iconic designs. Those are our long-term goals and that’s what we’re aiming for.

COURTESY OF ELEVEN BY VENUS

In 20 years…

hopefully I’m not playing tennis anymore. Whatever I’m doing I want to be in a position where I can win because I love to win.